‘e-rickshaws’ likely to make trash collection easy and clean

‘e-rickshaws’ likely to make trash collection easy and clean

Officials conducted a trial run in some areas in Tirupati, planning for 50 vehicles

The
manual door-to-door waste collection and segregation in the temple city
might get a ‘smart’ makeover! The Municipal Corporation of Tirupati
(MCT) is planning to introduce electric vehicles, 'e-rickshaws', for the
purpose, combined with its ongoing dry and wet waste segregation
process.

Speaking to The Hindu , MCT Commissioner Ch. Hari
Kiran said they would take a call after evaluating the performance of
the vehicles. “We have been approached by two companies and we called
them for a demonstration. Our main aim is to ensure a speedier
collection of garbage along with the concept of segregating dry and wet
waste. As some of the recyclable waste is going to the dumpyards, we
would like to address the issue and transfer the same to dry waste
collection centres and subsequently put them for a better use,” he
added.

The officials inspected the vehicles on Sunday and
conducted a trial run in the Balaji Colony, Police Quarters and Prakasam
Road areas.

Currently, municipal workers are using three-wheeler carts for collecting and segregating waste.

Introduction
of the vehicles would not only ease the burden of the workers but also
enable them reach inaccessible lanes of the temple city. The officials
are planning to introduce about 50 vehicles.

Features

A
representative from the Coimbatore-based Priyam Industries and
Engineering Ltd. A.M. Venkatachalapathy, who displayed the vehicle at
the Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) office on Saturday,
spoke to The Hindu on the features of the electric vehicle.

Retrofitted
with the trademark red and green waste bins of the MCT, the vehicle can
carry a load of 250 kg and can be upgraded to 500kg. It requires three
units of power for full charge and can cover a distance of 60 km, with a
maximum speed of 30 kmph.

Based on the requirements of the MCT,
Mr. Venkatachalapathy said, the vehicles could be fitted with GPS for
tracking their movement.

Meanwhile, the MCT officials have found a
unique solution for the early morning chores of pilgrims visiting the
temple city, by integrating the features of the Information and
Communication Technology (ICT).

Mapping of facilities

With
the help of a team from the Quality Control India, New Delhi, the
officials have mapped the locations of public/community toilets and
uploaded the same via Google Maps, particularly at the transit points.

In
addition to this, details of the government and private hospitals,
shopping malls and complexes, petrol pumps, restaurants etc., (a total
of 65 locations) have also been uploaded for the benefit of the numerous
devotees visiting the temple city.